Back in February of 2017, Andrew Clay Schafer of Pivotal tweeted the following: “seriously tho, the whole software industry is stuck on deployment when we desperately need architecture and telemetry.” Intrigue in a 140 characters. For me, I hear Andrew saying, “we’re jumping to step 5 before we’ve successfully completed steps 1-4.”

I have to agree with Mr. Shafer that it does seem like the IT industry has a fascination with the part of the process that releases new capabilities into production. I personally hear the words “continuous delivery (CD)” at least 3-4 times a day. However, CD is the result of multiple iterations on a delivery pipeline to remove bottlenecks and consistently optimize and improve. Enterprises that believe they can get this right on the first attempt will be at a very high risk for failure.

I believe a key driver enabling users to make this leap is the emergence of the microservice. Because microservices embody both engineering and operational elements within its design, it’s possible for businesses to just focus on the operationalization of a microservice without even requiring any engineering effort. For example, operations can take an existing application component and package it up in a container (e.g., Docker) and deploy ten instances of that container.

This now suffices in some businesses as a microservice. However, it’s not really a microservice, it’s just a repackaged application component that now is easier to manage and deploy. I don’t mean to belittle this effort. The ability to automate management and deployment of existing applications goes a long way to reducing IT overhead. However, to Andrew’s point, it’s missing the architecture and telemetry.

Microservices: A Key Element of DevOps StrategyThe last few decades of software engineering have heavily emphasized design without equal consideration for operationalization of the software being developed. As a visualization, perhaps you have seen the meme with the young girl and the house on fire in the background with the text, “it worked fine in development.” That’s because it’s easy to make a distributed application work in a properly engineered development environment; it’s when we release it into production (the wild?) that we begin to see its flaws.

The response to the above trend has been the emergence of DevOps and a focus on adopting lean principles that facilitate rapid and continuous deployment of small numbers of changes. The rationale behind this is sound; limit the number of changes in control variables, leverage an automated and highly-repeatable process that has been thoroughly tested to push into production, and lower overall risk.

However, to Mr. Shafer’s point, it seems there is a bit of extremism that has swung the pendulum too much to the side of operationalization without having first mastered the art of the design. I believe the results of this effect can be summarized as moving garbage faster into production. I also believe microservices is an industry response to the need for more design in what we are putting into this pipeline.

All distributed computing archetypes recognize deployment architecture in some way, shape or form, but microservices is really the first of these distributed object computing archetypes to address packaging and distribution as a first-class attribute of the design goals. Isolation, decentralized data management and implicit tolerance for failure are central design goals for microservices. However, the key is to design the microservices in such a way as to amplify the business value of the entity, fulfilling the second part of Mr. Shafer’s statement.

In the past we have taught architects to think component design. But components are a part of something larger and don’t have value outside of the larger entity. For example, a gear is a component of an engine. The engine needs the gear to operate, but the gear has little value outside of the engine. We must now teach architects to think in terms of designing services, which have innate value without being part of something larger, but still can participate in a larger context, increasing it’s value. Hence, the service can be part of a larger application, or it can simply deliver on a single goal.

Microservices, then, are an integral and key element of any DevOps strategy. It is a common model that application development and operations can share and clearly establishes deployment boundaries and pathways. For engineering, the microservice represents a bounded set of business logic and data supporting a business capability. For operations, the microservice represents the unit of deployed business capabilities.

@DevOpsSummit at Cloud Expo taking place June 6-8, 2017, at Javits Center, New York City, and is co-located with the 20th International Cloud Expo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world.

The widespread success of cloud computing is driving the DevOps revolution in enterprise IT. Now as never before, development teams must communicate and collaborate in a dynamic, 24/7/365 environment. There is no time to wait for long development cycles that produce software that is obsolete at launch. DevOps may be disruptive, but it is essential.

@DevOpsSummitwill expand the DevOps community, enable a wide sharing of knowledge, and educate delegates and technology providers alike. Recent research has shown that DevOps dramatically reduces development time, the amount of enterprise IT professionals put out fires, and support time generally. Time spent on infrastructure development is significantly increased, and DevOps practitioners report more software releases and higher quality. Sponsors of @DevOpsSummitwill benefit from unmatched branding, profile building and lead generation opportunities through:

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All major researchers estimate there will be tens of billions devices - computers, smartphones, tablets, and sensors - connected to the Internet by 2020. This number will continue to grow at a rapid pace for the next several decades.

With major technology companies and startups seriously embracing Cloud strategies, now is the perfect time to attend @CloudExpo | @ThingsExpo, June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY and October 31 - November 2, 2017, Santa Clara Convention Center, CA. Learn what is going on, contribute to the discussions, and ensure that your enterprise is on the right path to Digital Transformation.

Delegates to Cloud Expo / @ThingsExpo will be able to attend 8 simultaneous, information-packed education tracks.

There are over 120 breakout sessions in all, with Keynotes, General Sessions, and Power Panels adding to three days of incredibly rich presentations and content.

Join Cloud Expo / @ThingsExpo conference chair Roger Strukhoff (@IoT2040), June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY and October 31 - November 2, 2017, Santa Clara Convention Center, CA for three days of intense Enterprise Cloud and 'Digital Transformation' discussion and focus, including Big Data's indispensable role in IoT, Smart Grids and (IIoT) Industrial Internet of Things, Wearables and Consumer IoT, as well as (new) Digital Transformation in Vertical Markets.

Financial Technology - or FinTech - Is Now Part of the @CloudExpo Program!

Accordingly, attendees at the upcoming 20th Cloud Expo / @ThingsExpo June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY and October 31 - November 2, 2017, Santa Clara Convention Center, CA will find fresh new content in a new track called FinTech, which will incorporate machine learning, artificial intelligence, deep learning, and blockchain into one track.

Financial enterprises in New York City, London, Singapore, and other world financial capitals are embracing a new generation of smart, automated FinTech that eliminates many cumbersome, slow, and expensive intermediate processes from their businesses.

FinTech brings efficiency as well as the ability to deliver new services and a much improved customer experience throughout the global financial services industry. FinTech is a natural fit with cloud computing, as new services are quickly developed, deployed, and scaled on public, private, and hybrid clouds.

More than US$20 billion in venture capital is being invested in FinTech this year. @CloudExpo is pleased to bring you the latest FinTech developments as an integral part of our program, starting at the 20th International Cloud Expo June 6-8, 2017 in New York City and October 31 - November 2, 2017 in Silicon Valley.

The upcoming 20th International @CloudExpo | @ThingsExpo, June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY and October 31 - November 2, 2017, Santa Clara Convention Center, CA announces that its Call For Papers for speaking opportunities is open.

XebiaLabs is the technology leader for automation software for DevOps and Continuous Delivery. It focuses on helping companies accelerate the delivery of new software in the most efficient manner. Its products are simple to use, quick to implement, and provide robust enterprise technology.

Cloud computing is Internet based development and use of computer technology. It is a style of computing in which typically real-time scalable resources are provided 'as a service' over the Internet to users who need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure ("in the cloud") that supports them.

Cloud Expo

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Cloud computing is become a norm within enterprise IT.

The competition among public cloud providers is red hot, private cloud continues to grab increasing shares of IT budgets, and hybrid cloud strategies are beginning to conquer the enterprise IT world.

Big Data is driving dramatic leaps in resource requirements and capabilities, and now the Internet of Things promises an exponential leap in the size of the Internet and Worldwide Web.

The world of SDX now encompasses Software-Defined Data Centers (SDDCs) as the technology world prepares for the Zettabyte Age.

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Delegates will leave Cloud Expo with dramatically increased understanding the entire scope of the entire cloud computing spectrum from storage to security.

Cloud Expo - the world's most established event - offers a vast selection of 130+ technical and strategic Industry Keynotes, General Sessions, Breakout Sessions, and signature Power Panels. The exhibition floor features 100+ exhibitors offering specific solutions and comprehensive strategies. The floor also features two Demo Theaters that give delegates the opportunity to get even closer to the technology they want to see and the people who offer it.

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